A Research Proposal

THE PROBLEM

Lumad is a Filipino-Bisaya term meaning “Native” or “indigenous” and is the self-

ascription and collective identity of the non-Islamized peoples who are said to be the

original habitants of the Island of Mindanao (Villareal, 2016). Some big mining

companies in Mindanao have taken their homes, forcing them to relocate to the city.

Most Lumads in the city can be seen on the streets, open palmed, begging for alms.

Statement of the Problem

Even though the Philippines has made laws to protect the culture and the rights

of the Lumads (Villareal, 2016), it can be seen that the “indigenous people” are having a

difficulty in adjusting to the city. The researchers of the study aims to determine the

positive sides of the Lumads, specifically the children and mothers residing in Tacloban

City, Downtown. To find out more on what happens during their day-to-day lives.

Specifically, this study seeks to answers the following questions:

1) What are their living conditions?

2) What do they do for a living?

3) What do they do with their money?

4) How do they survive with their living conditions?

Scope and Delimitations

“It was joy after all. I learned many things. Being a family woman and a Lumad

mother, I can say that volunteering is a dignified work. No amount of money can replace
the gains during my years of service to the Lumad children”, said by Rona Dagpilan

(Dagpilan, 2016). This study limits itself to only the Lumads residing in Tacloban City

Downtown since they are usually seen there. Specifically the women, who are mothers,

and their children because they spend more time with each other.

Significance of the Study

The Lumads in Mindanao in Southern Philippines are part of nearly 17 million

indigenous people in the country. They are among the poorest of minority groups, with

little access to social services including education and healthcare (Chandran, 2018).

This study will benefit the following:

Students. With the result of this study it will help the students to be aware and

help the students to be aware and do some adjustments earlier that they can

make them a better and effective researcher. To diagnose what are the things

they need to do that can help them to have a better understanding about this

indigenous people; Lumads

Teachers. The findings of this study will reflect to the benefit of teachers

considering that Lumads also play an important role in today’s generation. By this

study teachers will be able to know the different considerations that Lumads

experience in their day-to-day lives.

Government. Through the use of this research government agencies, policy

makers, and other organizations may find new considerations and factors they

can use in making new policies and laws that promotes welfare and protection of

Lumads.
 Community. By means of this study, it will open up the avenue to broaden the

minds of the citizenry on to what really is the actual situation of Lumads.

Moreover, self-awarded community will be able to allocate more benefits and

aids to uplift the unfortunate condition of this particular ethnic group.

Future Researchers. This research will serve as their guide in constructing more

specific and certain details that will further promote protection and welfare for the

Lumads.

Conceptual Framework

The security forces – both military and police- and local politicians must avoid the

culture or bribes and personal advantages that lead to unequal treatment for the

indigenous people, including the exploitation of their lands and natural resources

(Villareal, 2016).

Sifting through 12 related literature and studies, the researchers were able to

gather and identify variables that are connected to the study and then created a

schematic diagram that shows a relationship between all the variables gathered.
PROCESS OUTPUT
INPUT
Lumads living in peace. Authorities taking advantage of Lumads fighting for
the indigenous people.
their rights.

Abused by armed
men

Over-cutting of
Lumads lost their Lumads living on the
forests.
home. streets

Mining firms forcing the

indigenous people to leave
their homes.
 Figure 1. Schema Showing the Conceptual Flow of the Study

This diagram shows the struggles of the Lumads caused by the different factors. And by

that, these lead to them losing their homes and fight more for their rights.
 REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE AND STUDIES

The indigenous peoples in Mindanao, in the southern part of the Philippines are

called Lumad, meaning ‘born of the earth’ or homegrown. Lumad is used to refer to 15

to 18 ethno-linguistic groups in Mindanao, and among those usually included as Lumad

are the Subanen, B’laan, Mandaya, Higaonon, Banwaon, Talaandig, Ubo, Manobo,

T’boli, Tiruray, Bagobo, Tagakaolo, Dibabawon, Manguangan and Mansaka. (La Viña,

2015)

The indigenous people of Mindanao – the Lumads – have been suffering quietly.

They say their rights and privileges are being taken away from them, and their liberty is

being stepped on, repeatedly, by armed men whose sworn mandate is to protect the

innocent. Of unwarranted hardships, it is the children who suffer the most. (Anonymous,

2017). In recent years, government had tried to force its way into the ancestral

territories of the Lumads in Mindanao, lusting after the rich mineral and forest resources

cradled within the Lumad domains. Military and paramilitary operations have resulted to

human rights violations and repeated forcible evacuation of Lumad communities

(Ayroso, 2015).

The Lumad tribes in Mindanao face a multitude of struggles, among them

protecting what is rightfully theirs from the vested interests of mining firms. With the

imposition of martial law in Mindanao, their situation only got more complicated. Despite

these challenges, the Lumad keep on fighting for their rights, all in the name of living in

peace in their own land (Anonymous, 2017). For decades the Lumad had been forced

to physically defend their right to control their ancestral territories against corporate
plunder and militarization. Unable to match up to the armed forces of the government

and profiteers the Lumad have had to flee their communities; their land has been seized

by multinational corporations and logging companies. Wealthy Filipino migrants and

multinationals are planting and exporting palm oil, bananas, rubber and pineapple. (Lee,

2015). For many generations, the Lumads have been living off the land. Unfortunately,

continuous years of over-cutting in many of the forests, the initiation of cash cropping

and chemical use on have slowly caused their land to deteriorate and leave them with

less and less harvest (Dee, 2002).

Many of the Lumad have sought safety and shelter in evacuation centers where

they and other victims of war are crowded into small spaces, lacking sanitary conditions

and food, and endure harassment by local police including sexual harassment. (Lee,

2015).

The Lumad, in particular, have in recent years experienced a severe government

crackdown that has threatened the education of thousands of Lumad children. (Ambay,

2017) The Lumads are part of nearly 17 million indigenous people in the country. They

are among the poorest of minority groups, with little access to social services including

education and healthcare, experts say (Chandran, 2018).The Lumad and other

indigenous peoples in the Philippines face many challenges on accessing education.

Government officials usually do not take into consideration the specific needs and

interests of indigenous peoples when formulating policies. Also, indigenous peoples are

more often than not the last to receive basic social services from the government,

severely limiting opportunities for indigenous children. (Ambay. 2017). Indigenous

children who do attend school, on the other hand, often have to endure walking many
kilometers or crossing dangerous rivers and mountainous areas, exposing them to risks

during travel. In addition, they often face deeply-entrenched discrimination in an

education system that is not particularly responsive to the cultural needs and

sensitivities of indigenous children, who are often treated as outsiders, outcasts, and

second-class citizens (Ambay, 2017).

Pagalan, a Lumad mother, said that they have repeatedly evacuated because of

the human rights violations, the abductions, the killings, the encampment of their homes

and schools (Ayroso, 2015). Whoever is to blame, Lumad mothers said they want to live

peacefully and take care of their children and return home from evacuation camps.

(Gonzales, 2018)
 METHODOLOGY

The Lumad children do not set out wanting to be guerrillas when they

grow up, in fact some are diligent and have so many dreams they want to reach.

(Santos, 2018) This chapter includes the research methodology. In more details, this

part outlines the research strategy, research approach, methods of data collection,

research process, type of data analysis the ethical considerations, and the research

limitations of the project.

Research design

This study is a qualitative research with an applied approach since Lumads are

part of a community that struggles in living. Not only do they bring societal problems but

is also a result of societal problems.

Sampling

The researchers will use the chain sampling method. In this method, the

participants refer the researchers to others who may be able to potentially contribute or

participate in this study.

Data Collection Procedures and Techniques

The researchers will collect the data through participant observation, focus

groups, and individual interviews. The researchers decided to engage in the data

collection via the process of ethnography.

In a particular fieldwork, researchers will observe the persons who are involved,

it’s social environment, gender and status; and what is being done and said. Aside from
that, it is also a necessity to find out on how they go about what they do and where do

particularly the activities occur. Moreover, the time of when the things happened should

also be written down. In the contrary, the researcher’s thoughts and ideologies should

also be given attention; how does it feel to be engaged in this activity, and how do

behaviors and feelings change over the course of the activity. Aside from that,

researchers should also jot down the things they’ve learned from the activity, if how did

it inform the research and what was the experience like.

Data Analysis

The researchers extracted from the data key narratives (Ricoeur, 1983, 1984,

1985) and phenomena, which would most accurately represent the lives of the Lumads.

The data will be presented as ethnographic description. Narratives are stories that

unfold within the fieldwork process and it will be the role to elicit key stories that help

capture and represent the lives of natives. These ethnographic narratives will illuminate

the Lumads' characters, their shared values, understandings, and beliefs. According to

Ricoeur, narrating is a person’s means to create meaning and it reveals identity

characteristics of the author and the characters involved, while shaping identity at the

same time. Narratives can also be seen as a reconstructed perception of life

experiences (Gadd, 2003; Lock, 1995). Within the context of the current ethnography,

the stories that will be presented will reflect the researchers subjective experience as a

participant observer and interviewer of the Lumads.

 Exhibit A

Observation Area

1. From the research question/issue, “What do students do at the

observation site(i.e., cafeteria, student lounge, library)”, select a specific

focus for the observation. What do you want to observe?

2. From the selection site assigned you team, find meaningful data by

answering the questions for yourself, “Why am I observing here?”

3. Place yourself in a position where you can clearly see and hear at least

some of the people you are observing, without distracting or disrupting

their activity.

4. If asked, explain you are in RESDQ and are practicing observing people,

and that you are not spying on them.

5. Observe:

 Who is involved? (human, social, environmental, groups, gender,

status)

 What is being done and said? (activities and variations, what

people do)

 How do they go about what they do? (interaction, communication,

decision-making)

 Where do activities occur? (setting, physical environment,

arrangements)

 When do things happen?

  How does it feel to be engaged in this activity (as an observer)?

 How do behaviors and feelings change over the course of the

activity?

6. Take detailed notes using these questions as cues.

7. Immediately after the observation, note down in your field notebook what

you learned, how it informed your research, and what the experience was

like.
 Exhibit B
Questionnaire

1. What tribe or ethnic group are you in? Name?

2. Where did you come from?

3. What made you come here?

4. What do you do for a living?

5. What are your alternative source of income?

6. Is it enough to sustain your family?

7. Do you have a permanent place to live? if not, where do you usually go to stay

for the night?

8. Are you satisfied with your living condition?

9. What are the adjustments you've made when you transferred here in the city?

10. Do you want to return to where you came from?